Harvard Outguns Yale, 88-65

Michelle Cashen. (photo by Sam Rubin '95, Yale Sports Publicity)

Feb 12, 2010

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Yale women’s
basketball team came into Friday night’s game at Harvard as
winners of four of its last five games, but the host Crimson shot a
scorching 64.9% from the field, including a 71.4% clip in the
second half, to derail the Bulldogs by a score of 88-65. Sophomore
Michelle Cashen led three Yale players in double figures with 14
points.

With the loss, Yale falls to 4-3 in the Ivy League and 9-12
overall. The Crimson improves to 13-7 on the season with a 4-2 mark
in league play.

“That was our poorest performance of the season,” said
Chris Gobrecht, the Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of
Women’s Basketball at Yale. The Bulldogs were outrebounded,
30-24, and committed 18 turnovers.

Junior Yoyo Greenfield and freshman Megan Vasquez joined Cashen in
double figures with 11 points apiece, while senior Melissa Colborne
added nine. Junior Mady Gobrecht netted seven and hauled in a
team-best four rebounds, and senior Haywood Wright and freshman
Allie Messimer each chipped in with five points. Senior captain
Ashley Carter rounded out the Yale scoring with three points.

The game began as a footrace, with a Vasquez layup giving Yale a
12-11 lead with 14:31 left in the half. That would be the
Bulldogs’ last field goal for nearly seven minutes, however,
as Harvard put together a 16-4 run to claim an 11-point lead at
27-16. It looked as if the Cantabs would take a double-digit
advantage into the intermission, but a Messimer three-pointer and a
Gobrecht fast -break layup in the final minute brought Yale within
seven points as the Bulldogs went to locker room trailing,
39-32.

Vasquez and Colborne led the Yale offense with six points apiece
over the first 20 minutes of action. Colborne also led all players
with three rebounds as Yale was edged on the glass, 14-13. The
Bulldogs shot 42.3% (11-26) from the floor, 30.8% (4-13) from
three-point range and were perfect on all six of their free throw
attempts. The Crimson shot 58.6% (17-29) from the field, 16.7%
(1-6) from beyond the three-point arc and was also flawless at the
line, connecting on all four of its attempts. Berry led all players
with 12 first-half points, while Lippert added 11. The Bulldogs
committed 10 turnovers in the half while turning over Harvard on
nine occasions.

Just like the first half, it was a seven-minute Harvard run that
made the difference, as the Crimson extended its lead from eight to
22 points, 62-40, courtesy of a 19-5 run that ended with 11:49
remaining in the game. The Bulldogs made a final push with an 11-3
run to pull within 12 points, 71-59, with 4:26 left, but the
Cantabs answered in a big way with a three straight three-pointers
to extend their cushion back to a more comfortable 21 points. When
the final buzzer sounded, Harvard came away with an 88-65 win.

The Bulldogs are back in action tomorrow, as they head to Hanover,
N.H. to challenge the defending Ivy League Champion, Dartmouth.
Tipoff from Leede Arena is slated for 7 p.m.